Against All Odds: Spurs to complete mission impossible in Switzerland

The onus will be on Adebayor to shoot Spurs through to the semis

Spurs travel to Basel in the Europa League, live on ITV1 at 20:05, and despite conceding two away goals and missing Gareth Bale through injury, Paul Robinson thinks they can upset the odds and qualify.

FC Basel have had a superb season to date; top of their domestic league and despite disappointment in not making it through the Champions League qualifying rounds, their Europa League performance has more than made up for it. The Swiss champions are on a roll having progressed through their group and then despatching of the dangerous Dnipro and Zenit in the last 32 and last 16 respectively.

Murat Yakin's side were written off before their trip to White Hart Lane last week but they took a shock 2-0 lead and while Spurs managed to level it up at 2-2, Basel are in the box-seat to progress to the semi-finals.

Marco Streller is their leading scorer with 19 this term but it was Mohamed Salah who impressed me the most at the Lane as he was at the forefront of most good things that FCB did.

Tottenham are without the injured trio of Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and William Gallas for the trip to Switzerland and while the first two are huge losses, the latter could be seen as a positive in some quarters. The Spurs backline were looking decidedly shaky in the first half and it is likely that AVB will restore Michael Dawson and Kyle Walker to the side, especially given the fact that the North Londoners don't have a game at the weekend.

Emmanuel Adebayor has a huge responsibility on his shoulders as he's the chief goal threat and there have been signs in recent weeks that he's discovering his touch in front of goal. The Togo international has scored three in his last five starts and he will be supported by Gylfi Sigurdsson, who is also starting to play at his best. 

Clearly the Swiss team are the favourites to qualify but I don't think they are as nailed on as their odds suggest. Spurs still have quality in the absence of Gareth Bale and at around the 1.584/7 mark, I have to make Basel to qualify my lay of the day.

Recommended Bet
Lay FC Basel to qualify v Spurs @ 1.584/7 

2013 P/L (1pt each bet)

Wagered: 100 pts
Returned: 91.03 pts
P/L – 8.97 pts (after commission)
(2012 P/L: + 9.60 pts)